Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I am starting to fall in love with contemporary British writers and Scottish writers.  In reality, I always favored British English and English dialects to American English because of their words.

British words sound so wonderfully ancient….and yet so marvelously modern.

When you read a story written by a British writer you are immediately taken back to the timeworn world of immense gardens, tedious rainy days enlightened by tea and cucumber sandwiches, courteous theatrical people, and an absurd yet dreamy wardrobe.

Who does not love a story in which each word takes you to a timeless,  noble place– a place in which you read about eating aubergine and courgette and shopping for trousers, waistcoats, and jumpers?

Who does not love a story in which Jane Eyre meets Bridget Jones and Mommy Dearest?

 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is beautifully written and filled with marvelous words in Italian, French, and Latin. These words are smartly inserted into the text so not to overwhelm the readers with too many unknown words.

The protagonist of the story is a tormented and hypochondriac modern Jane Eyes and a Bridget Jones–an alcoholic binger, an overweight thirty-something woman who tries to keep things in order  while  dealing with  a Mommy Dearest in her life.

She is a lonely person  with a Mommy Dearest on her side. Her loneliness apparently wanted is forced by an odd, awkward childhood governed by a scary mother and by a painful secret.

I fell in love with Eleanor’s character. She is a loner in desperate need of human connection. BUT she will tell you that she is indeed completely fine. She will tell you that she avoids social interactions because social interactions are pointless. Oh, believe me when I say that she can speak her mind and she is not afraid of telling you that you you are wearing an hideous shirt or that your email is a source of illiterate communication!

She is a politely rude human being. She is literal but funny. She is persistent and stubborn. She never gives up. Even  if her life is as plain as an empty room, she wants to invite people in that empty room to make it full of life. After all, what counts in life is human connection…everything else is just pointless decor on a white wall splashed with stale vodka.

Hugs,

Ink n Paper